Functional Area Problems, Opportunities, and Constraints 65 



REFERENCES 



1. U.S. Council on Environmental Quality and U.S. Department of 

 State . The Global 2000 Report to the President . Washington . D . C .: U . S . 

 Government Pnnting Office. 1980. (Hereafter cited as Global 2000 

 Report). 



2. National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences. Com- 

 mittee on Mineral Technology. Technological Innovation and Forces for 

 Change in the Mineral Industry. Washington. DC: National Academy 

 of Sciences. 1978. 



3. U.S. Water Resources Council. The Nation's Water Resources 

 1975-2000. Washington. D.C.; U.S. Government Prmtmg Office, De- 

 cember 1978. 



4. Priorities for Food, Forestry, and Agricultural Sciences Research 

 through 1984: Western Region. Report of the Research Committee of the 

 Western Regional Council to the Joint Council on Food and Agricultural 

 Sciences. 1980. Copies available from Dr C. Elmer Clark (Cochair- 

 man). Associate Director. Agricultural Experiment Station. Utah State 

 University. Logan. Utah. 



5. U.S. Council on Environmental Quality, op. cit. 



6. U.S. Council on Environmental Quality and U.S. Department of 

 Slate. Global Future: Time to Act . Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government 

 Pnnting Office, January 1981. 



7. Ibid. 



8. Ibid. 



G. Environment 



The decade of the 1970s was filled with a great amount of 

 activity directed at protecting the natural environment. 

 Throughout those years, scientific and technological ac- 

 tivities were coupled with both private and governmental 

 efforts to overcome the progressive degradation of the air. 

 water, and soil on which our productivity, health, and 

 safety depend. By the end of the decade, the national 

 effort to control pollution and upgrade the quality of our 

 environment had made some impressive gains. Substan- 

 tial improvements were made in urban concentrations of 

 carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and total suspended 

 particulates; the steady deterioration in the quality of the 

 Nation's surface waters was slowed; several substances 

 known or suspected to be carcinogenic were withdrawn 

 from permissible use; and substantial progress was made 

 in identifying endangered or threatened species and in 

 taking measures to protect them. 



However, in spite of some reversals of long-term nega- 

 tive trends in the natural environment, we still have very 

 limited knowledge about our environment, and in many 

 respects that lack of knowledge has limited our ability to 

 manage and protect our resources. Moreover, many en- 

 vironmental problems cross national boundaries (lA), and 

 the mechanisms for adjusting conflicting environmental 

 interests are poorly developed (Section 1-D). Even within 

 our own borders, many environmental problems are 

 showing strong resistance to scientific or technological 

 control. As a result, many Federal regulations that were 

 framed with reference to maximum permissible pollution 

 standards without regard to available control technologies 

 have proven to be far more costly than anticipated and, in 

 many cases, not as effective as had been hoped (NRC-14). 

 Moreover, there is a growing consensus that, on balance, 

 many Federal environmental regulations have constrained 

 industrial innovation and economic growth (Sections 1-C, 

 I-E). Forthat reason, the President issued, on February 17. 



1981. an Executive Order calling for greater precision in 

 assessing both the need for and the potential costs of a 

 broad class of Federal regulations, including those de- 

 signed to protect the environment from technological 

 hazards.' 



With an increased emphasis on national economic re- 

 covery and enhanced industrial innovation, the 1980s 

 likely will witness a more precise focus on trying to 

 understand the nature of the risks due to several classes of 

 widely acknowledged potential environmental hazards. 

 At the same time, means will be sought to ameliorate the 

 effects of those hazards in ways that are consistent with a 

 broad range of national goals in addition to environmental 

 protection. The goals include, for example, sustained 

 economic growth and energy security. Finally, long-range 

 efforts to deepen our understanding of the nature of the 

 total biosphere will have to be pursued. 



High-priority problems associated with science and 

 technology that could be profitably pursued during the 

 next 5 years include managing atmospheric effects of 

 fossil fuels, controlling hazardous and toxic substances, 

 protecting water quality, and minimizing air pollution. 



ATMOSPHERIC EFFECTS OF FOSSIL FUELS 



The use of fossil fuels and, especially, coal as sources of 

 energy has important implications for the environment, 

 and those environmental problems may have to be part of 

 the complex of factors used in framing specific energy- 

 related policy decisions (Section II-E). Atmospheric 

 effects could be particularly serious. 



THE CARBON DIOXIDE PROBLEM 



The burning of fossil fuels releases carbon dioxide (CO2) 

 into the atmosphere and exacerbates already existing 



